“I was born poor, I lived poor, I will die poor.”- St. Pius X

Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born on June 2, 1835, in Riesi, Province of Treviso, in Venice. He was the second of ten children born into a poor Italian family. He felt a desire to be a priest at an early age and was ordained in 1858. He was appointed bishop of Mantua, Italy, after serving for 26 years, and he was named patriarch of Venice in 1893. At the age of 68, in 1903, he was elected Pope Pius X. In the 20th century, he was the first Pope to be elected.

As Pope, he enacted regulations that lowered the First Holy Communion age to seven and promoted regular, even daily, Eucharistic consumption. He encouraged laypeople to read the Bible, reformatted the liturgy, encouraged clear, straightforward homilies, and brought back Gregorian chant. He started the process of codifying canon law, revised the Breviary, and reorganized the curia. He also conducted a steadfast battle against Modernism's heresies and vices. His main priority was to renew everything in Christ.

Pope Pius, who had a political interest, urged Italian Catholics to get more involved in politics. One of his first acts as pope was to abolish the presumption that governments had the authority to veto papal elections, which limited the independence of the conclave that elected him in 1903 in the process.

Pius X bravely refused the demand when France abrogated its accord with the Holy See in 1905 and threatened to seize Church property if it was not given power over Church affairs.

He condemned the mistreatment of native peoples on Peruvian plantations, dispatched a relief commission to the earthquake-stricken city of Messina, and hosted refugees at his own expense.

Exactly 11 years after he was appointed pope, World War I broke out in Europe. Even though Pius saw it coming, he was nonetheless sad about it. “This is the last affliction the Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from this ghastly scourge.” On August 20, 1914, just a few weeks into the war, he passed away. On May 29, 1954, Pope Pius XII canonized him, making him the 259th pope to be canonized. August 21 is his feast day.

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